Excited: I’d say that’s the word to describe how I feel about Ross Barnett. I’ve never fished a tournament here before, but when people ask me how I feel about fishing the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Elite in the heart of Mississippi, I tell them I’m excited about it.
That’s really true.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve flown over this lake on the way from Birmingham back to California. For whatever reason (most likely following I-20), the flight path goes over Jackson, Miss., a lot, and I’ve always looked down on it when we’re flying over. I think we anglers do that quite a bit. I’ve always thought it was a cool looking lake.
Now it’s time to find out if it’s as good as it looks.
For us, Ross Barnett is something different, and it comes at a pretty good time for me. This is a time of year that I really love fishing. I mean, it gets really fun out there because the bass start acting more like bass. By late April, they’re mostly done spawning and done being preoccupied by their reproductive cycle, and they’re settling in to fatten up again. The majority of them are now in postspawn and looking to capitalize on the shad spawn.
Even though they’re more spread out when they are not on beds, that’s the kind of fishing I like. There’s a little more strategy involved and, for me, that’s more fun.
I think this week’s tournament is going to be more pattern-based than the last few events, which were mostly spot-based, if that makes sense. Here’s what I mean: At Okeechobee, I was near the fish, but they were glued to one particular spot and I didn’t move up to fish them. While I enjoy sight fishing, I prefer fishing patterns.
Another great thing about late April is the weather—it’s warm, but not too hot just yet. The highs will be in the 80s, and I like the heat.
I’m really looking forward to the challenge of a new lake this week. Last week, I spent a little time on the water with my good friend, Tom Frink, who used to fish with me back in the California days and traveled with me as a non-boater in the Bassmaster pre-marshal days. We met when he was a young teen and I was 21 or so and just starting out in my professional career. It was cool to get back out on the water with him in Alabama, catch a lot of fish and try to get back in to my groove on a body of water that I’m comfortable with.
It’s going to be tight. It’s going to fish small because it’s not as big as some of the lakes we usually go to. There might be five boats on one spot; there might be some fender bumping and that kind of stuff. But that’s all part of the game.
The lake seems pretty shallow, and that part of Mississippi is even a little swampy, so it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be different.
At Ross Barnett, I’m rigging up some new Metanium reels from Shimano with the Enigma HPT rods that I helped design. So along with a new lake, I’ll have some near gear to try out as well.
So a few things will be different at the tournament this week in Mississippi — the lake, the patterns, the rods, and the reels — and I’m hoping, my finish. After a little bit of a slow start, there’s no time like the present to shake things up.